Wadala homemaker fights back knife-wielding robber, rescues son
MUMBAI, June 26 -- Displaying extraordinary courage and presence of mind, a 36-year-old Wadala homemaker on Wednesday rescued her six-year-old son from the clutches of a knife-wielding assailant who demanded all her jewellery and cash in return for her son's safety.
The incident occurred around 7pm near Guru Nanak Khalsa College of Arts, Science and Commerce in Matunga East, as Divya Rahul Pai was preparing to drive out of the parking lot, with her two sons in the rear seat. A man suddenly entered the vehicle from the rear door and pointed a knife at her younger son's neck, she told Hindustan Times.
"My elder son (aged eight) plays football regularly near Khalsa college in Matunga East. I had gone to pick him up as usual, with my younger son (aged six), and had parked the car outside the college," Pai said.
When she returned to the car with her sons and they took their respective seats, a man suddenly entered the vehicle, placed a knife at her younger son's neck and demanded whatever money and jewellery she had.
"I got afraid. But I got down immediately, opened the door where the man was seated, and started shouting for help," the 36-year-old homemaker said.
"Hearing her cries for help, the accused panicked, decided to flee and started running. However, he was limping due to a leg injury and was nabbed by others who were at the spot," said an officer from Matunga police station, requesting anonymity.
The accused, 35-year-old Ali Basharat Ali Sayyad, is a resident of Kharghar and a driver by profession. He has been booked for wrongful restraint and robbery, police said.
"The accused claimed he was in desperate need of money and this was the first time he had done something like this. We are checking his criminal antecedents," said the police officer quoted earlier. Two knives were recovered from the accused, he added.
Pai said she had accompanied the assailant with those who helped nab him to the Matunga police station.
"I was afraid when I saw a man pointing a knife at my son's neck. But I decided to face him and others also helped me," she told HT. "Had I not taken a decision quickly, anything could have happened."
Though she was holding up well after the incident, her two sons were fear-stricken and unable to sleep, she said....
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